Dreifaltigkeitskirche

The Dreifaltigkeitskirche stands in the Hamburg district of Hamm, its tower visible from afar near the Hammer Kirche U-Bahn station. Reinhard Riemerschmid designed the building, raised in 1956 and 1957 from clinker brick concrete. Its symbolic forms rank it among the significant church buildings of post-war modernism in Northern Germany. It has stood under monument protection since 2002.

The first Hammer Church of 1693 was a half-timbered building with a baroque pulpit altar and an Arp Schnitger organ. Wealthy merchants initiated it so that worshippers could skip the long journey to St. Georg. Bombs destroyed it in the air raids of 1943. A temporary wooden church followed, raised with help from the World Council of Churches. The church you see today carries that history in its forms. Tower and nave trace the Alpha and Omega, Christ as the beginning and the end. Inside, an elliptical nave opens between visible concrete pillars and yellow brickwork, and a simple altar carries a bronze cross. Parts of that temporary structure remain in place, a tribute to the international support behind the reconstruction.

Wheelchair users get around the site without barriers. A historical cemetery adjoins the church, holding the graves of notable Hamburg personalities.